Summary

This poll, conducted October 6-9, 2000, is part of a
continuing series of surveys that solicit public opinion on the
presidency and on a range of other political and social issues. The
study was conducted to assess respondents' interest in and opinions
about the 2000 presidential election. Respondents were asked whether
they intended to vote in the upcoming presidential election on
November 7, 2000, and for whom they would vote if the election were
held on the day of the survey, given a choice between Vice President
Al Gore and Connecticut senator Joe Lieberman (Democratic Party) and
Texas governor George W. Bush and former Secretary of Defense Dick
Cheney (Republican Party). Respondents gave their opinions of both
presidential and vice presidential candidates. They defined what they
considered as the most important problem facing the country and
rated various characteristics of the presidential candidates,
including their trustworthiness, leadership ability, diligence, and
preparedness. Views were elicited on the presidential and vice
presidential debates, on George W. Bush and Al Gore's ability to
debate, whether the debates had influenced respondents' choice for
president, and if there was a possibility of their watching the second
presidential debate. The survey also polled respondents on some major
topics of the presidential campaign, such as a future budget surplus
solution and the Social Security and Medicare programs. Respondents
discussed the likelihood of George W. Bush or Al Gore, if elected,
reducing taxes, improving education, reducing the cost of prescription
drugs for the elderly, and making the tax system more fair. On other
matters, respondents gave their opinions regarding abortion and
whether they were in favor of the FDA's decision to allow the use of
RU-486, the abortion pill. Background information on respondents
includes the most recent year they voted in any kind of election, the
year they last registered to vote, voter participation history,
marital status, access to a computer and the Internet, the importance
placed on religion and which religion, and the number of children in
the household. Additional background information was elicited on
education level, age, race, number of years at the current address,
income level, and whether there were multiple phone lines in the
house.

Time Period(s)

Date of Collection

Sample

A variation of random-digit dialing using primary sampling
units (PSUs) was employed, consisting of blocks of 100 telephone
numbers identical through the eighth digit and stratified by
geographic region, area code, and size of place. Within households,
respondents were selected using a method developed by Leslie Kish and
modified by Charles Backstrom and Gerald Hursh (see Backstrom and
Hursh, SURVEY RESEARCH. Evanston, IL: Northwestern University Press,
1963).

Universe

Adult population of the United States aged 18 and over
having telephones at home.

Data Source

telephone interviews

Data Type(s)

Original Release Date

2002-03-08

Version Date

2005-12-15

Version History

2005-12-15 On 2005-08-15 new files were added to one
or more datasets. These files included additional setup files as well
as one or more of the following: SAS program, SAS transport, SPSS portable,
and Stata system files. The metadata record was revised 2005-12-15 to
reflect these additions.

Notes

Data in this collection are available only to users at ICPSR member institutions.

The citation of this study may have changed due to the new version control system that has been implemented.

This study is provided by ICPSR. ICPSR provides leadership and training in data access, curation, and methods of analysis for a diverse and expanding social science research community.